And another thing ...

LOCKPORT -- Carlos Holland feels a single-payer system would be the best solution to address health care issues.

"Nobody in Canada doesn't like their system," he said. "If I could get my doctor to give me a prescription that I could order from Canada, I'd save so much."

Holland, 81, felt strongly enough about the issue to contact The Herald-News for the opportunity to voice his opinion this week.

"We've got to regulate the health care industry," he continued. "I've got a stack of bills four-inches high."

The retired tool and die maker and his wife have undergone several hospital stays in recent years and Holland said he's seen a sharp contrast from when he dealt with insurance as a union representative in the 1970s and 80s.

"We've just lost so much. The whole medical profession in this country is geared to make money," he said. "The first time I went to my doctor there was no notice up in the office, but now there is -- 'We do not take public aid patients.'"

"Doctors take a Hippocratic Oath promising to help whoever's in need, but we don't have that anymore. If you ain't got the money, you don't have (a chance for treatment)," Holland said.

"Something needs to get done. It's hard to see the facts on this issue when so many people get carried away with politics, both in Washington and Springfield," he said. Holland said some people speaking out on health care are unfairly blaming Barack Obama for stalling the issue.

"I remember the Constitution and the President doesn't make the laws, Congress does. I don't think people remember that," he said.

Holland believes a single-payer plan is the best option, but he's open to other alternatives that could be presented as long as there's some kind of government regulation.

"(The argument to that) is anything the government does will cost more money, but without intervention the companies in the medical industry are robbing it," he argued.

"Everything Edward Hospital sends out notes they're a nonprofit organization. But...they want money to build more hospitals," Holland said.

Holland isn't happy with the current health care situation and he expects it to get worse.

"Before I die I'll have to file for bankruptcy," he said. "They've cut my pension and they've cut my Medicare, so now I'll (be) poor."

1. Do you and your family currently have adequate health care coverage?

2. Have you been denied coverage on a medical issue?

3. Do you receive health care through your employer?

4. If you pay for private insurance, what is the monthly cost?

5. Would you be willing to pay more taxes to ensure better health care for all Americans?

6. What changes would you like to see in how health care is administered?

The answers

Marie Stelow, Shorewood 1. Yes

2. No

3. No, Medicare plus my husband's retirement supplemental.

4. N/A

5. Yes

6. In the interest of fairness, universal health care with Medicare for all.

Judith Wrona, Joliet

1. Yes

2. No

3. No

4. $1,400 for two.

5. No

6. Stop unnecessary testing done to protect doctors and hospitals in frivolous lawsuits. Have panels of doctors in related specialties judge the merits of filing a malpractice suit. Limit the amount lawyers can get in a lawsuit and allow doctors to file suit against plaintiffs in frivolous lawsuits.

Carlos Holland, Lockport 1. No, we both take meds. The cost for both of us is approximately $3,000.

2. Yes, doctors have signs up in their offices stating if you don't have insurance they won't see you. This must be regulated.

3. Yes, but lost most of it.

4. We just pay the co-pay.

5. Yes

6. I like a simple payer plan. The rich folks can do what they want.

Mr. and Mrs. John Steinbach, Lockport

1. No.

2. Yes, high blood pressure treated with meds and sleep apnea treated with CPAP machine.

3. No, we're self-employed

4. N/A

5. Yes

6. Outlaw denial of care for pre-existing conditions and place limits on premiums for pre-existing conditions.

Leo A. Wrona, Shorewood

1. Yes

2. No

3. No, I'm retired

4. $1,300 a month for two.

5. No

6. Tort reform with strict limits of only 5 to 10 percent - no multi-million dollar settlements. Remove illegal aliens. Make insurance payments tax deductible and cut out fraud and misuse of payments by the government.

Helen Wheeler, Joliet

1. Yes.

2. No

3. I'm retired and I do not get a pension.

4. AARP supplemental coverage and Medicare.

5. No

6. I've never had a problem, so far. Everything has been good until our latest recession. I don't see why hospitals need to look like resort hotels.

Jerrold Maxell, Minooka

1. My immediate family has adequate health care insurance.

2. Medicare limited its fees on a few procedures, and I ended up paying the small difference. My corporate retiree dental benefit was dropped.

3. I and my wife receive Medicare and are delighted with it.

4. We pay only the insurance fees for Medicare and its senior drug program.

5. If needed, I would pay extra taxes to ensure better health care for ALL Americans. However, none of the current proposals include all Americans. I don't want to pay extra taxes for programs which benefit insurance and drug companies, i.e. the over-complicated senior drug plan which prohibits foreign purchases and competition between drug suppliers. It also has a "donut hole" which stops payments for some cost ranges. The plan cannot be logically defended; it is a political one. I think the consideration of taxes only (as usually presented) a fraud, since the correct measure would be whether the total cost will be more than the sum total of 1. The current costs to patients, providers and government, less 2. The savings realized by getting rid of unnecessary administrative costs and corporate profit. This compares the true cost of U.S. health care. I doubt a single payer plan would cost much more than we pay now. I don't think extra taxes for most citizens will be necessary because the very rich don't pay their fair share of taxes and would suffer no deprivation if they were to do so.

6. 1. A single payer system similar to, or an extension of, Medicare, 2. Competitive drug prices, including the right to buy from foreign sources. 3. Simplification of paperwork, which would best be provided by a single payer plan (since most of it is necessitated by the insurance companies' goal of denying benefits, minimizing payouts and excluding high-risk patients. 4. Include dental, audiology and rehabilitative care. 5. Include most medical supplies such as dentures, glasses, hearing aides, wheelchairs, etc. 6. Include long-term health, shelter home, nursing home and hospice benefits. 7. Enact laws to force doctors to testify in malpractice suits against other doctors and force the AMA to expose or disqualify those guilty of malpractice, 8. Treat cheating and conflict of interest (including voting on issues which involve parties who contributed campaign funds) as criminal offenses with mandatory prison sentences and 9. Use honesty and simplicity in developing and presenting programs, benefits and costs.

Rose Livingstone, Coal City

1. Yes

2. No

3. Medicare plus my husband's retirement pension

4. N/A

5. No

6. 1. No Medicare cuts, 2. No government mandates, 3. No increased taxes, 4. No coverage for illegal aliens, 5. No abortion coverage, 6. Medical malpractice caps for physicians, 7. Being able to take your insurance with you when you change jobs, 8. No denial of insurance due to pre-existing conditions, 9. Affordable, good quality insurance for small business owners, 10. Reasonable deductibles and out-of-pockets costs.

Keith Rogers, Braidwood

1. Yes

2. No

3. Yes

4. N/A

5. Absolutely not

6. More competition with insurance companies so there is more of a choice.

Toni Freckelton, Joliet 1. Yes

2. No

3. Yes

4. N/A

5. No

Frank Domenico, Lockport

1. No, we cannot afford dental or eyeglass coverage

2. No

3. No, neither my wife nor myself receive health care.

4. $350 Medicare supplementary

5. Yes

6. Yes, I would like to see a personal representative of the insurance company, with the benefits laid out so we can make sense of them. An online approach to what has been paid and what has not.

Gary Reynolds, Shorewood

1. Through Medicare.

2. Yes, allergy testing which I agree with.

3. No

4. Supplemental Insurance for $160 per month.

5. No

6. No government option, straight talk about where money will come from to fund this initiative.

Jill Wilmer, Joliet

1. Yes, I am covered by my employer

2. No

3. Yes

4. $115

5. No, no, no

6. Have government leave people alone who are happy with their health coverage. Allow uninsured, estimated between 5 to 30 million, to buy into a group policy coordinated by the government in which they pay a monthly co-pay based on a scale determined by their income. This cost will be offset by the savings the President says will exist by eliminating fraud.

Diane McDonald, Manhattan

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Yes

4. N/A

5. No

6. Better regulation of malpractice insurance and claims. The private sector should handle insurance, the government is incapable of running an efficient program.

Lori Sherman, Plainfield

1. Yes

2. No

3. Yes

4. I don't pay for "private insurance" but we contribute $350 per month out of my husband's pay for our medical insurance.

5. No, if someone in my family or close circle of friends has a medical issue that's going to be costly, we pitch in, but I DON'T want to pay for people who do nothing to help themselves.

6. Take out the trial lawyers and malpractice insurance will go down, thus costs will go down. Take government out of health care altogether and costs and fraud will go down. Case in point, the plan board in Illinois who says Edward Hospital can't have a full-service hospital in Plainfield. Who are they to say whether or not we "need" a hospital? In other words, stop telling us how to live.

Anne McDonald, Plainfield Township

1. Yes

2. No

3. Yes

4. 0

5. Yes

6. Other civilized nations started health care plans with the premise that all citizens should be covered. The U.S. did not. I think we need a single payer system, but am pessimistic at its passing in Congress as long as the insurance and health care lobbies are so strong.

Dennis Vanderplow, Crest Hill

1. My wife and I both have health care coverage.

2. We have never been denied coverage.

3. My wife is covered at work. I am retired.

4. We do not have private coverage.

5. No

6. The correct change to health care is to fix the problem, not tear it apart.

Robert Mull, Coal City

My health care is great. I can't afford to pay more taxes for those who aren't willing to look out for themselves. My local hospital gives out over $10 million a year in charity care and all hospitals in Illinois are required to care for the needy. Please no more needless laws and no coverage for anything for illegal aliens